BAIC Foton and ZF Strategic Cooperation Bears New Fruit: First AxTrax 2 Electric Drive Axle Rolls Off the Line

On June 22, the strategic cooperation between BAIC Foton and ZF bore new fruit — the first AxTrax 2 electric drive axle from the joint venture factory officially rolled off the production line in Jiaxing, marking that BAIC Foton has grasped key command in the field of new energy commercial vehicle core components, achieving a critical leap from strategic layout to implementation. Zhang Lan, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone; Chang Rui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Group, Chairman of BAIC Foton; Lu Zhenghua, Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of BAIC Foton; Cui Shipeng, Deputy General Manager of BAIC Foton and Chairman of ZF Foton; Andreas Moser, Member of the Board of Management of ZF Group, Head of Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology Divisions, along with hundreds of guests from government, both shareholders, partners, and media, gathered together to witness this milestone moment.

01 Aligning with Industrial Transformation, Strategic Layout Bears Fruit

Today, the automotive industry is experiencing unprecedented transformation, with the waves of electrification and intelligentization sweeping the globe. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the domestic commercial vehicle market is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 million units, with the new energy penetration rate projected to reach 50% by 2030, and L2+ level intelligent driving for commercial vehicles reaching 30%. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition is reshaping the global energy supply chain landscape, with energy independence and controllability rising to a strategic core for nations, compelling the commercial vehicle industry to accelerate its transition from fuel-driven to electric-drive.

Based on a profound insight into industry trends, in April 2023, BAIC Foton and ZF signed a strategic agreement to introduce ZF's latest electric drive technology to China for the first time, with production based in Jiaxing. After three years of meticulous construction and preparation, the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle officially rolled off the line at the joint venture factory, marking the transformation of this strategic blueprint into reality.

As an integrated electric drive axle platform developed by ZF for next-generation commercial vehicles, the AxTrax 2 can be applied to medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Its modular design replaces the engine, transmission, drive shaft, differential, and conventional axle, enabling the electrification of commercial vehicles. The product rolled off the line features a silicon carbide (SiC) inverter on a platform of up to 930V, delivering 210 kW continuous output power and 26,000 Nm peak torque. Equipped with a 3-speed transmission and electronic gear shift actuator, its compact design maximizes battery placement space while achieving full synchronization with vehicle braking, ADAS, and autonomous driving systems — providing an efficient and intelligent system solution for the electrification transformation of commercial vehicles.

02 Jiaxing Base Continuously Empowering, Joint Venture Reaching New Heights

Since BAIC Foton and ZF established their joint venture in Jiaxing in 2017, cooperation between the two parties has been continuously deepening. To date, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory has achieved cumulative sales of RMB 20 billion. The Jiaxing base, with its advanced production systems and intelligent equipment, is becoming an important manufacturing, R&D, and functional headquarters for ZF in the Asia-Pacific region. The official roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle represents a critical step in extending cooperation from traditional transmissions into the electric drive domain.

In his address, Lu Zhenghua expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government, Economic Development Zone, and relevant departments for their long-standing care and support of the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory, and paid high tribute to the project team and all employees who worked day and night to overcome challenges. He stated that the new product roll-off is only the first step of a long journey, and put forward three expectations for the future development of the joint venture:

First, continue to lead through technology — fully leverage ZF's global technology advantages and BAIC Foton's vehicle application scenario strengths, and accelerate the efficient conversion of electric drive axles from technology reserves to commercial delivery;

Second, deepen customer value — focus on core scenarios such as trunk-line logistics and regional transportation, and accelerate the value conversion from "roll-off delivery" to "customer profitability";

Third, advance localization and cost reduction with efficiency gains — relying on the resilience and scale advantages of the domestic industrial chain, accelerate component localization, deliver global-quality electric drive axles at better cost-performance ratios to benefit customers, and help new energy commercial vehicles accelerate their transition from "policy-driven" to "market-driven."

03 Anchored on the 15th Five-Year Plan, Empowering Green Transformation of Commercial Vehicles

Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the mass production roll-off of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle is another important achievement in BAIC Foton's promotion of its three major strategies: "comprehensive internationalization, comprehensive new energy transition, and comprehensive intelligentization." Facing industry trends of deep integration of electrification and intelligentization, and the restructuring of the global landscape, BAIC Foton is leveraging key technologies to build vertically integrated synergistic advantages in core components including batteries, electric drives, and electronic controls.

The official commissioning of the AxTrax 2 electric drive axle not only provides strong technical support for BAIC Foton's new energy commercial vehicles, but also sets a benchmark for the localized development of electric drive technology in China's commercial vehicle industry. In the future, the BAIC Foton-ZF transmission joint venture factory will continue to drive cost revolution through technological innovation, explore efficiency potential through lean management, and push new energy commercial vehicles to accelerate toward a new stage of market-driven growth.